Anita Faye Mason Ward

Anita M. Ward, MSN, RN, has skied her last run, made her last scuba dive, flown her last flight, and has slipped the surly bonds of this world and entered into eternal life with the Lord Jesus Christ, her family, friends, and our pups Maxie, Barbie, Bella and Pippa. Her final moments were as she desired; in the comfort of her home with her loving husband.

Anita succumbed to complications from a long battle with a disease that caused irreparable damage to her body, but it could never dampen her lively spirit.

Anita was a multi-facetted person; a loving committed wife, a strong loving mother, a professional, extremely competent, and compassionate registered nurse and nurse educator, as well as the ever-adventurous traveler and lover of life.

Anita was born and raised on the family farm in Shubuta, MS. She is the daughter of the late Otis Lamar Mason and Vivian Louise Weaver Mason. She had three older brothers and one younger.

Anita is survived by her husband of 24 years Forrest Chandler “Chuck” Ward Jr, daughters Monica M. Garrison, Therese F. Thurman (Bo), and son Samual P. “Bubba” Frichter III (Shelby), grandsons Torin Adams, Beau Frichter, and Brady Frichter, and step-grandchildren Tyler Thurman, Jacob Thurman, Matthew Thurman, Elijah Garrison (Maliah), and Sophia Garrison. She also leaves behind her brothers Thomas Mason, Gary Mason (Martha), and Micheal Mason (Debi), sister-in-laws Debbie Hunt, Dianne Edwards (Chip) and numerous cousins, nephews, and nieces. Additionally she is survived by her adopted “mother” Susan Lyles, and extended family Trish Carson, Joesph Parker, Lynda Zachry, Mike Reems, the Fores, the Noyds, the Kelsos, the Lundsfords, and the Merrills.

She was proceeded into eternal life by her parents, grandparents, her brother Larry Mason, and her son-in-law Thomas Garrison Jr., and numerous Aunts and Uncles. She was also proceeded by extended family Marjorie Parker, and Bill Zachry.

Through life’s journeys Anita has lived in a few different cities. For the last 22 years she has called Davies Plantation in Bartlett, TN home. Prior to relocating she was a resident of Montgomery, AL.

Professionally Anita earned her Associates Degree in Nursing from Wallace Junior College, Dothan, AL. She applied her skills as an RN in the hospital setting, in industrial medicine, in life saving transplant surgery, and in home health care with Baptist Home Healthcare in Montgomery, AL. After relocating to Bartlett, Anita continued her work in healthcare doing PRN (as needed) with Methodist University, North, and Germantown Hospitals primarily in PACU. She also worked PRN for Medical Anesthesia Group (MAG) performing preadmit workups, and pre and post operative rounding.

Anita was always learning, and she thrived on education. With little encouragement, Anita returned to university as an adult student. She enrolled into the University of Memphis Loewenberg School of Nursing to earn her Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree, and was awarded her BSN with honors on May 5, 2007. Anita so enjoyed being a student again that she applied for, and was accepted into the Loewenberg School of Nursing Graduate program. Anita earned her Masters of Science in Nursing with emphasis on Education and Technology. She was awarded her MSN on December 13, 2008.

Post graduation, she continued her involvement with the Loewenberg School of Nursing by being instrumental in the development of the online education program with particular focus on the RN to BSN students. She was selected as the Lowenberg School of Nursing Adjunct Faculty of the Year in 2014. She also continued her PRN work with the Methodist Hospital System and with Medical Anesthesia Group (MAG). She retired from her nursing career in 2018.

In her personal life, Anita was a woman ahead of her times. In the summer of 1996, she started a conversation in an AOL chatroom with a guy living in Memphis. Their relationship flourished, she swept him off of his feet, and they were engaged on November 6, 1998, and married on November 6, 1999.

Anita was first and foremost a devoted, loving wife, mother, and grandmother. She found great pleasure in the simple things in life such as gardening, homemaking, and reading. She was also a huge fan and season ticket holder of Memphis Tiger Basketball and Football, and a member of Memphis Rebounders and Highland 100. But her real passion was traveling, an attribute she inherited from her father.

Anita, while a member of Civil Air Patrol, earned her FAA Private Pilots License. She was a natural airman, and would frequently fly with her children to various destinations in the south.

Anita’s outdoor passion was alpine downhill skiing. She made it perfectly clear to her future husband that he was going to have to learn to ski, and love it! He did, and they traveled annually to Park City, UT to fulfill her passion. Anita also earned her open water scuba certification so that she could enjoy the underwater world on frequent cruises in the Caribbean with Royal Caribbean to explore dive sites and cultures. She loved to travel both domestically and internationally. She most enjoyed New York, Paris, and Budapest.

Anita’s idea of travel took a dynamic shift in 2018. She successfully convinced her husband that a Super C motorhome was how they should be traveling, and travel they did! She named the coach “Wandering Wendy”. Her first summer trip wish was to attend EAA Airventure in Oshkosh, WI to fulfill her airplane geekiness. Both became involved with volunteerism with the Vintage Aircraft Association, and made many wonderful friends. It’s an annual event, and all other summer travel plans were built around Airventure. Over the years Anita and Wandering Wendy have explored 42 of the lower 48 states.

The family is especially thankful for the medical professionals that touched her life, Dr. W. Clay Jackson, Dr. David Portnoy, Dr. Robert Heck, and Dr. Louis Gamble, and the staff of West Clinic (Dee) and Campbell Clinic (Diamond).

Anita’s uplifting and lively personality touched countless lives, and left a great impression with everyone she encountered. We will all miss her, her beautiful smile and positive attitude until we are reunited again with her.

The Right of Christian Burial Liturgy will be celebrated at 3:00 pm at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Cordova, TN, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. The family will receive friends prior to service beginning at 2:00 pm. Interment will held on March 14, 2024 at 1:30 pm at Hephzibah Cemetery, Shubuta, MS.

In lieu of flowers, the family request that memorial donations be made to an established charity of the donor’s choice that supports our service members suffering with PTSD.